I was on campus two weeks ago and I noticed something interesting: the days are getting longer! I suppose this fact of nature wasn't a cause for celebration, but it was a welcome realization as I looked forward to the days of riding my bicycle down dark, shadowy streets being behind me. As I basked in the warm glow of the sun at 5:30pm, I recalled something I had read in a book which said, and I paraphrase, that, "In our Christian life, our days should get longer and our nights should get shorter."
What does this mean? At the risk of sounding obvious, the day is when we're in the light and the night is when we're in darkness. Before the Lord shined on and in us, we were in perpetual darkness, a never ending night. But praise the Lord! God shined, we believed, and the day dawned.
The people sitting in darkness have seen a great light; and to those sitting in the region and shadow of death, to them light has risen."
–Matthew 4:16
Because the God who said, Out of darkness light shall shine, is the One who shined in our hearts to illuminate the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.
–2 Corinthians 4:6
Who delivered us out of the authority of darkness and transferred us into the kingdom of the Son of His love,
–Colossians 1:13
For you are all sons of the light and sons of the day. We are not of the night nor of darkness.
–1 Thessalonians 5:5
Some characteristics that are related to light are clarity, brightness, and life, for without light there would be no life. Characteristics associated with darkness are confusion, depression, and even death.
Now we're sons of the light and sons of the day. But the more relevant question is, "How long is our day?" Perhaps we're new in our walk with the Lord and the sun/Son only shines for a couple minutes–perhaps it's isolated to the time we're in Christian meetings. Perhaps we're more mature in our walk with the Lord and through continual practice we've built up the habit of remaining in the Lord's presence, or walking in the light. Our days are long and our nights are short. Wherever we may be, the point of the questions is not to condemn and surely not to cause us to compare ourselves to others; the goal of the question is to encourage us to progress. Each day of our Christian life should be a day between the winter solstice (the shortest day of the year) and the summer solstice (the longest day of the year). Each day of our Christian life should be a day in which each day is longer than the day before and each night is shorter than the night before. May the Son grow in us daily that this would be the story of our Christian life.
Now we're sons of the light and sons of the day. But the more relevant question is, "How long is our day?" Perhaps we're new in our walk with the Lord and the sun/Son only shines for a couple minutes–perhaps it's isolated to the time we're in Christian meetings. Perhaps we're more mature in our walk with the Lord and through continual practice we've built up the habit of remaining in the Lord's presence, or walking in the light. Our days are long and our nights are short. Wherever we may be, the point of the questions is not to condemn and surely not to cause us to compare ourselves to others; the goal of the question is to encourage us to progress. Each day of our Christian life should be a day between the winter solstice (the shortest day of the year) and the summer solstice (the longest day of the year). Each day of our Christian life should be a day in which each day is longer than the day before and each night is shorter than the night before. May the Son grow in us daily that this would be the story of our Christian life.
Below is the portion I was reminded of:
Immediately after you were saved, you didn't have any discernment and were unable to distinguish between light and darkness. After you were saved awhile and had gone on with the Lord, gradually there was a separation within you and you had the discernment to say, "This is light and that is darkness. I will keep the light, but not the darkness." Before we were saved, we had no day at all, only a night of twenty-four hours. We were constantly in the night, a dark and cloudy night with no stars. But, praise the Lord! From the day we were saved, something began to dawn like the morning. This is the day.
Perhaps your first day was only four hours long, and then evening came again. Regardless of how long it was, you had your first day. Praise the Lord! After ten hours of night, you came to a meeting and in that meeting you saw the dawn. It was another day and you shouted, "Hallelujah!" Then you went to school or to work and evening came again. Don't be disappointed—evening is a sign that morning will come. Also, when you are in the morning, be prepared for the evening to come again. In Genesis 1:5, it doesn't say morning and evening; it says evening and morning because we came out of the night. "And evening and morning were the first day." Praise the Lord!
... You need to grow. Perhaps your day is just ten hours and your night fourteen hours. You need to grow for your days to be longer and your nights to be shorter.
-W. Lee, Life-study of Genesis, ch. 3